Berger: Ending fracking freeze would help N.C.

The leader of the North Carolina Senate says the top priorities for state lawmakers this summer include a pay raise for teachers, fixing Duke Energy's coal ash problem and mining for natural gas.

Sen. Phil Berger, R-Eden, the chamber's president pro tem, laid out the priorities in a meeting with reporters on Thursday.

The General Assembly's short session starts Wednesday.

He said the state's $20 billion general fund would be able to handle teacher pay increases despite declining tax revenue and increasing Medicaid costs.

He promised legislation that makes sure coal ash is not threatening the state's water supply. A spill polluted the Dan River on Feb. 2.

On gas mining, Berger said lifting the state's moratorium on fracking would be "beneficial."

"We want to see North Carolina receive the same kind of benefits we are seeing in other states in terms of the creation of jobs and the infusion of capital in the economy," he said.

Fracking is controversial in North Carolina and other places because of concerns about ground water pollution.

Most people in the Sandhills region, a place where mining would likely occur, do not support a requirement that would force landowners to sell the natural gas under their property if a certain percentage of neighbors have done so, according to a new poll by the Southern Environmental Law Center released on Thursday.

The group said the poll also showed high support for public disclosure of chemicals injected into the ground during fracking and serious concerns about the effects fracking will have on local water quality.